International institutions to take action to achieve decent work

03 Jul '06

3 min read

ICFTU, with its Global Unions partners and the WCL, has released a statement to a high-level meeting of the UN's Economic and Social Council taking place this week in Geneva. Entitled "Decent Work for All at the Heart of Global Governance", it calls for all the international institutions to make action to achieve decent work for all a priority.

ICFTU President Sharan Burrow, along with Marc Blondel, former General Secretary of the CGT FO-France, and Barbara Byers, Executive Vice President of the Canadian Labour Congress, will put the union case to the high-level meeting.

The Statement stresses the need for employment, rights, protection and social dialogue to be taken up as basic components of decent work, which should guide all global economic and social policies, from development and welfare through to regulation of trade, investment and finance.

"1.4 billion people, half of the global labour force, are not earning enough to lift themselves and their families above the US$2 per day poverty line. The need for full, productive and decent employment has never been greater", said Guy Ryder, ICFTU General Secretary.

While there has been continuous strong global growth in recent years, employment prospects have been deteriorating, especially for women and young people, according to the union bodies. Better coordination of macro-economic policies is required, while global institutions muststop treating employment purely as a "trickle down" derivative and put creation of good jobs at the centre of policies and programmes.

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